


Every Day's a Holiday When I'm Near to You

by perksofbeingaiko



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Robron Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 21:54:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13152786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perksofbeingaiko/pseuds/perksofbeingaiko
Summary: It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just the music. Aaron actually quite liked holiday music, so long as it didn’t start well before December. And with Christmas only a few days away, he’d do well with letting it set the mood.But no. There had to besinging.Or, Aaron's neighbor is much too keen on Christmas music.





	Every Day's a Holiday When I'm Near to You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Robron Secret Santa 2017 exchange!
> 
> [Original post with moodboard](http://strongboyfriends.tumblr.com/post/168930784833) because I'm extra.

_“Now I know what a fool I’ve been, but if you kissed me now I know you’d fool me again!”_

Aaron squeezed his eyes tightly, fighting against the pull of the day’s beginning as he dropped his face to the dining table and groaned. This was the fifth day _in a row_ that Aaron had been woken up by the overly cheery music and warbled voice coming from his neighbor’s flat.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just the music. Aaron actually quite liked holiday music, so long as it didn’t start well before December. And with Christmas only a few days away, he’d do well with letting it set the mood.

But no. There had to be _singing_. Loud, out-of-tune singing with the lyrics mixed around every which way that barely resembled the song that played along. He thought once or twice about going over there and telling the bloke to shut it off, but according to Belle that made him a “scrooge” that was set out to “ruin Christmas.” Plus, it wasn’t like this was an irregular occurrence. 12B had been blasting music since October, and while Aaron had begged for it to be a phase, it seemed more likely the guy had just gotten too comfortable.

Honestly, Aaron felt worse for whoever lived in 12A below the bloke. While the singing was bad, Aaron would bet his life’s savings that he was almost certainly dancing along, and Aaron wouldn’t wish that particular rendition of _Stomp the Yard_ on anyone.

So he was dealing with it.

Really. He was absolutely –

_“I really can’t stay – But baby, it’s cold outside –”_

– 100% –

_“I’ve got to go away – But baby, it’s_ cold _outside –”_

– without a doubt –

_“This evening has – Been hopin’ that you’d – So very ni- I’ll hold your hands…”_

– _not_ dealing with this shit.

He pushed himself away from the table, his dining chair squeaking against the linoleum as he abandoned the cereal he had been attempting to eat, and made a bee-line out into the hall. He barely paid any mind to the fact that he was technically still in his pajamas – socked feet and all – as he pounded on the door. From the hallway, Aaron could only just hear the faint crooning of Dean Martin – a far cry from the 24/7 rave he did _not_ sign up for being channeled through to his own flat.

He waited a beat, and then another, before raising his fist again, nearly clocking the guy when the door finally opened.

"Whoa!" the man said, leaning back to avoid contact. His eyes widened with the movement and Aaron could barely register enough to drop his hand awkwardly to his side as he looked the man over.

Aaron had seen him before – of course he had. They lived next door to each other, it was bound to happen – but for whatever reason he never really _looked_ at him. He mustn't have because there is no way Aaron would've forgotten that face.

He was pretty, in a way. Not immediately feminine in his features, but something about the way his face relaxed into a confused smile and the slope of his hair which contradicted with his broad shoulders and obvious _presence_ he exuded short-circuited Aaron's brain and all he could think was _pretty_.

And then the music floated out into the hallway and the annoyance crept back in. "Do you know what time it is?" Aaron asked, and the confused smile on pretty boy's face turned into a small frown as he blinked at Aaron.

"Sorry?" he asked, and _great_ even his speaking voice was pretty.

_Pull yourself together,_ he thought to himself as he jut his chin out.

"It's half 8 in the morning, mate. What are you doin' listenin' to music this loud this _early?_ "

Suddenly, like a switch had been flicked, pretty's boy's face got decidedly _less_ pretty and much more like the cat that got the cream as he stood to his full height and leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms. "Oh, sorry. Am I bothering you?" he asked sardonically, and now it was Aaron's turn to look confused.

"No, actually. I quite like being woken up to _three different versions_ of Sleigh Bells on me day off when it's two below," Aaron bit back. He'd never been one to hold back his sarcasm - he was too much like his mum that way – but something about this man made him want to both tear off all his clothes and also rip him a new one, and it'd only been two minutes.

The mad nodded slowly, taking his turn to look Aaron up and down before leaning in just enough for Aaron to unconsciously lean forward with him. "Then it looks like it's finally worked," the man stage-whispered as if he were revealing a long-held secret to Aaron.

Aaron shifted in place, the chill from the empty hallway nipping at his fingertips. "Worked? What _worked_?"

"D'you know these walls," the man started, knocking the wall beside him, "work both ways?" Aaron was silent, but the man didn't leave much time for Aaron to answer anyway. "You fidget when you talk on the phone, for starters. And, you know, that shouldn't bother me seeing as I'm not in the room with you, yet you still manage to make it _my_ problem. You kick the baseboards and scrape God knows what across the walls. You've nearly put a hole through the wall _twice_ from what I can only assume is a game controller. And on top of it all, every single time I've tried to make conversation with you, you put those _damn_ earbuds in," the man ranted, gesturing vaguely at Aaron throughout.

And, okay, maybe Aaron _did_ tend to kick the dirt off his shoes by thumping his heel against the wall and _maybe_ he had gotten into the bad habit of scraping capped pens and Sharpies across the wall as he paced while he cooked dinner. And, hey, technically both of the Wii incidents were his _mates_ getting far too into virtual bowling, not him.

But the headphones?

"You've never said two words to me before now, don't start," he argued.

"Just _yesterday_ I said hello to you after I held the front door open and you just stuffed those earbuds in and jogged off."

Aaron spluttered. "No, _you_ were arguing with someone over your Bluetooth and barely paying me any mind."

"Doesn't mean I didn't still say hello!" the man said, now defensive.

"What does it matter anyway? Turn your music down," Aaron ordered, stepping back to shuffle back to his own flat.

"I've only got this music on because I figured it was the only thing you cared about."

Aaron paused. "What d'you mean by that?"

"Well, not only are your earbuds rude, they also leak. Heard you listenin' to that Joywave song a while back. Had to Google it, actually. 'S not bad." The man paused and Aaron stared at him blankly. The man rolled his eyes. " _Anyway_ , so I started playing it over my speakers. Didn't know what genre you liked, so I sampled it all."

Aaron was quiet for a moment, running the conversation back through before he settled on asking, "So all that Bret Michaels from before?"

"Awful," the man confessed.

"And the Amy Winehouse back in November?" Aaron asked, a smile slowly taking over as he came to his realization.

"I actually quite liked that."

"Huh, thought you were just going through some bad breakup or summat. Called it your 'blue period,'" Aaron teased, and the other man's smile widened along.

"And now this," his neighbor said, gesturing behind himself to his flat. "Who knew all it'd take for you to talk to me was driving myself slowly insane with the same five Christmas songs over and over?"

Aaron frowned. "You thought I'd like _Bret Michaels_?" Aaron questioned, somehow less appalled than he felt he should have been.

"How was I supposed to know?" he defended.

Aaron tucked his chin to his chest as he huffed a laugh, squeezing his arms as he crossed them over his chest. The cold was getting too much, and even the warmth of his neighbor's accompanying laugh couldn't make up for it.

Lifting his gaze, he pointed at the other man. "Turn it down. For both of our sakes." He turned finally, catching the shout, "I'm Robert, by the way!" and sending his own, "Aaron!" back before shutting his door, thumping the conjoining wall once when the music finally turned down.

************

The following days passed without much fanfare. Aaron would exaggeratedly pull out his earbuds whenever they passed each other on the stairs, and Robert would give him a pointed "Good morning, Aaron" but nothing more.

Aaron was alright with taking this – whatever _this_ was – slowly. Robert was exciting in a way so many people couldn't compare to. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed before, but Robert filled every space he existed in.

The cramped stairwell would echo with his voice as the wood saturated with the hints of his cologne. The walls would speak to him with Robert’s movements throughout his own flat and the much softer music that flowed through the spaces between them.

He almost regretted that he was going home for Christmas. He had just gotten a taste for what a world with Robert in it felt like, he wasn't ready to be rid of it for two weeks.

And as if the gods had heard him, Aaron's phone rang just as he was lacing up his shoes for his evening jog.

"Hiya, mum," Aaron answered as he plopped himself down on the floor.

"Aaron! How are you, love? You alright?" Chas asked, cheery as ever.

"Fine, yeah. Can't wait to go home, though. It's not felt like Christmas yet without you."

"Right," Chas said, her voice now hesitant and saccharine, "about that."

"No, mum-" Aaron started, his shoulders already dropping as he prepared himself for whatever excuse she was about to give him. He should've expected it, really. Ever since his mum had gotten that new 30 something boyfriend, she'd been harder to catch than smoke.

"Oh, it's just that he's surprised me with tickets to the Canary Islands is all! Proper romantic he is," Chas gushed.

"What about me, then? What am I meant to do?" Aaron asked, his voice getting whiny in a way that only his mother knew how to bring out.

"You can still come home, love! Lisa and the rest of the lot will be more than happy to see you, you know that."

"It's not the same without you, _you_ know that," Aaron countered.

"Then go see Liv! She's up with Sandra this year, yeah?" Chas suggested but Aaron just rolled his eyes and muttered out a "no thanks."

"Oh, love. I'm sorry about this. But I'll make it up to you for your birthday, don't you worry!" Chas said, her tone now turning whiny itself as she begged for Aaron to understand.

"Yeah, alright. Well I'll see you next year then," Aaron said, already having given up. With a few more platitudes and promises, Aaron finally ended the call and laid himself flat on the floor, tossing his phone at the wall. After a few seconds, a small knock came from Robert's side, and without a word, Aaron knew what it meant.

_Are you okay?_

_I'm fine._ Aaron said back with a knock of his own, biting his tongue against words he wished he could have said instead.

************

Waking up Christmas Eve to a silent flat was eerie. For 24 years he'd been greeted by the front door opening and closing 50 times over as family members he forgot he even had made their way home for the holidays, paired with obnoxiously loud voices and the screams of the youngest children at all the attention they received. Christmas was cacophonous and overwhelming and filled with more love than Aaron could even comprehend.

But this? This was a room shrouded in shadows that sent a buzz through his ears, with limbs too cold to shift more than an inch out of place. Part of him kicked himself for chiding Robert for his music. He hadn't realized how dependent he had become on Robert's garbled singing – _wailing, more like_ – and now the silence felt tangible.

He'd barely gotten the idea into his head before he was throwing on his socks and hoodie and making the now familiar shuffle from his front door to Robert's. He leaned in to listen closely for footsteps when the beats between lasted too long, and knocked again, much too loud for the lazy Sunday morning. A crash from inside Robert's flat startled him before the door opened, a wide-eyed and –

_Oh._

– _wet_ Robert answered the door, his hair flat against his forehead and towel wrapped haphazardly around his waist.

"Uh-" Aaron started but Robert cut him off.

"What're you doin' knocking like that? Bloody thought it was the SWAT team busting their way in!" Robert said, moving back into his flat, apparently expecting Aaron to follow him inside. Aaron, now completely incoherent and nearly cracking his jaw to keep it clenched, stepped in, his eyes darting everywhere from the minimalist deco, Robert's chest, the single vanilla candle lit on the dining table, the droplets falling from Robert's hair as he turned with a mumble back into the bathroom, and the complete lack of anything festive throughout the whole of the space.

Aaron shook himself and frowned at the emptiness of the room. Making up his mind, he turned about-face right out the door, shutting it softly behind himself. Before he knew it, he had made his way to Homebase and was now carting about discounted tinsel and baubles and a plastic evergreen that reached to his chest.

Two hours later Aaron was making his way back up to Robert's doorstep, dumping the overflown bags down with a thud as he panted, knocking much more civilly on the door. When Robert answered, Aaron pushed past him into the flat, dragging the bags along with him, the baubles rattling along with the movement. He felt a hand on his arm before he was spun around, Robert’s hands now on either shoulder as he looked him up and down.

“What’re you doin’?” Aaron asked, feeling his skin prickle from the attention.

“Checking you over. You left here so quickly I thought you’d been Raptured,” Robert said, tone obviously sarcastic but still with a hint of hesitance in the softness of his voice.

Aaron felt dizzy from the warmth of Robert’s hands on his still-chilled arms, and with the mix of vanilla and aftershave that Aaron was growing to identify as purely _Robert_ , he put on a grin and ducked out of his hold. “Brought you these,” he said, kicking the side of one of the bags gently before bending down to rifle through them.

The tree had been the heaviest. It broke down into three pieces that Aaron would need to assemble, but the box itself was awkward and had ripped one of the bags on the car ride back. He dragged his key over the Sellotape that held the box together, cutting it open and got to work.

“Honestly, mate. Even I’ve got a tabletop tree and an advent up. This place is just _sad_ ,” Aaron said, gesturing to the whole of Robert’s living room.

“You bought me Christmas decorations?” Robert asked incredulously, reaching over Aaron to hold up the package of string lights Aaron had bought at 50% off.

Aaron stopped fiddling with the branches to look up at Robert, suddenly acutely aware that he was sitting on Robert’s floor, getting bits of tinsel and glitter on the carpet. “Sorry, I just – I just assumed you weren’t doin’ anythin’ for Christmas tomorrow seein’ as you’re here alone and not off with your family or anyone.” Aaron looked down at himself, feeling the embarrassment crawl up his spine. “I, err –” Aaron stuttered, pushing himself up and pulled everything back into their respective bags.

“Aaron,” Robert said, but Aaron barely gave himself a chance to think as he shoved everything away.

“I’m so sorry –”

“ _Aaron_ ,” Robert said again with more force, and something about the smile in his voice made Aaron stop and look over at him again.

Robert took the half-undone top of the tree from Aaron with a breathy laugh. “Thank you, for all this. I _mean_ it,” Robert said when Aaron went to interrupt. “You’re right, I was planning on ordering in Chinese and marathoning old episodes of Strictly. I’d much prefer to do it in the company of these lights.”

Aaron let out a breath quietly, steadying himself from the sincerity in Robert’s eyes. “This is the first year I’m not goin’ home for Christmas. I figured I would try to at least make it better for you.”

Before Aaron could even think to react, Robert leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, almost nothing more than the scratch of Aaron’s stubble against his lips before Robert pulled back. Robert laughed at himself nervously before holding the tree back up. “Need help with this?” he asked, and Aaron was grateful for the chance to breathe as Robert turned around and fiddled with the tree stand.

Minutes passed of silent unboxing and unraveling before Robert turned on his infamous Christmas playlist, and Aaron felt the tension ease away from his body until he was nudging Robert with socked feet after one-too-many horrible puns, the scent of vanilla surrounding him as they took turns shoddily pinning the lights to Robert’s wall with thumbtacks and turning the flat into a gaudy mess. Aaron had slumped himself down onto Robert’s couch as he watched the sun set and cast shadows around Robert’s silhouette as the other man took photos of his tree to send to his sister.

_“I love my sister and all, but she’s got two kids and a husband she’s way too good for. Didn’t really fancy spending my holiday with that, ta,”_ Robert had explained when Aaron rose an eyebrow at the mention of Victoria.

He felt himself blinking slowly, and knew he needed to leave before he started yawning. He righted himself and walked to Robert, grazing his hand on his hip in passing. “I’m gonna get out of here. Any longer I might pass out your couch,” Aaron said.

“Well my bed’s fine too, if you’d prefer that,” Robert said lowly.

“Bants,” Aaron said with a roll of his eyes. “But really, Merry Christmas an’ all.”

Aaron made his way through Robert’s flat before he heard Robert call out, “If you aren’t busy tomorrow, you should come over. Don’t want to put all this to waste.” Robert gestured around himself and Aaron let himself take in the sight.

Robert wore jogging bottoms and a plain t-shirt – having changed his clothes when Aaron complained that he was making _Aaron_ feel stuffy – and his face was cast in a yellow glow from the string lights above him, giving him a halo effect as it broke through his hair. He looked younger like this, still very much a presence, but one that didn’t command the space as much as Aaron was used to. Aaron gave him a wink before heading back to his own flat, pretending not to notice the way the shadows here didn’t speak to him like they had just 20 steps away.

************

“Headphones?” Aaron asked as he looked the box in his hands over, the gift wrapping discarded to the floor. He was sat cross-legged on Robert’s couch, not having bothered to change out of his pajamas before coming over Christmas morning. Robert sat on the floor in front of him, rising to his knees to look the present over with Aaron.

“Noise-cancelling. Your other ones were cheap and anyone passing could hear your music. These should be secure enough for you to still jog with if you’d like without broadcasting to the world your music tastes,” Robert clarified.

“When’d you buy these?” Aaron asked as he struggled with the packaging, ultimately laying it onto the seat beside him to worry about later.

“Err, day after you came over here harassing me for my music,” Robert answered, and Aaron gave him a pointed look but said nothing about his word choice.

They were listening to said music now, Michael Bublé butchering the lyrics to Santa Baby as Aaron pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands while he watched Robert unwrap his own gift.

“A flash drive?” Robert questioned.

“Go on, then. Plug it in,” Aaron urged, jutting his chin out to Robert’s laptop.

“Alright, but if this is some sort of super virus, I promise all I’ve got on this thing are spreadsheets and pictures of my nieces,” Robert said as he plugged the USB in.

“Nah, I’m planning more of a long-con on you. You’re safe for now,” Aaron teased, biting down on a smile when Robert lifted his brow in mock-suspicion.

They spent the rest of the morning listening to bits of the music Aaron had uploaded to the drive –

_“Are you trying to tell me something with this?” Robert had asked as he scrolled down the song list._

_“If I’m meant to hear your music into the new year, might as well have it be_ good _music.”_

_“Are you saying my music isn’t good enough for you?”_

_“I’m sayin’ if I leave you alone with this, I’ll be listening to that Call Me Maybe song on repeat,” Aaron had answered, and Robert had feigned shock._

_“Carly Rae Jepsen is the new queen of pop. Or, so I’ve been told, I mean,” Robert clarified as his voice had dropped to a mumble._

– while leaning against each other on the floor, propped up against the couch.

It wasn’t what Aaron was used to. Christmas had always meant screaming children, way too much food, paper hats that his family insisted he wear, and more shouting and booze to last a normal family an entire year. But this? With Robert’s knees knocking into his own as they teased and fought over his laptop with the promise of something _more_ hanging on every glance?

Aaron wouldn’t mind making new traditions for this.

**Author's Note:**

> [ **strongboyfriends**](http://strongboyfriends.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
